Local company is collecting warm clothing to help homeless

Dec. 23, 2019 | Danielle Eaton
daniellee@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD – A web design, marketing and optimization company in Springfield is working hard to try and provide warm clothing for the city’s homeless population all winter long.

Bryan James McFarland, a marketing consultant at Springfield Mass Media, said the inspiration for the three-month long drive came after he took a drive up Worthington Street.  

“I was driving up over on Worthington Street, and I don’t know if you’ve ever been on Worthington Street, and they just looked so cold and I figured you know something even like an extra pair of gloves would be a precious item,” he explained.

McFarland explained the company also wanted to use their web presence as a company to expand their reach for the drive and to do something good.

 “In the spirit of giving in the season, we were thinking you know maybe we can use that and it wouldn’t cost us anything, but use those tools we already have to just do something good, do something nice,” he told Reminder Publishing.

Kristin Wampler, President and CEO of Wampler MacGregor & Associates, said while she was never homeless she understands the struggle of not having much.

“I didn’t grow up homeless, but I grew up on the system and with welfare,” she said. “My husband is a veteran and so many veterans are actually homeless, and being able to give back to the community in which we work and we live in is just a great thing.”

Wampler said they decided to do a three-month drive rather than a week-long drive because winter doesn’t end until March.

“Winter actually goes, from right now until really, March. So kind of until March, but something that we can give back each week to the homeless, to shelters, to people that need them to stay warm throughout the winter because it’s not getting any warmer,” she explained. “It’s getting colder. So we want to be able to do it throughout the cold season, so we figured at least a two-month drive would be able to give us enough that we can still be able to deliver until March.”

Both Wampler and McFarland said the goal of the drive is to try to collect enough warm items to keep people “sustainably warm.”

Wampler added that sustaining people through the winter is the ultimate goal, she’s hoping to collect at least 250 items. McFarland said the firm itself will also be putting in money so that items can be bought for the drive.

Throughout the drive Wampler said the company will be distributing the donated items weekly to the local homeless population and shelters.

Donations can include the following items:

• Hats

• Gloves

• Mittens

• Socks

• Blankets

• Coats, new or gently used

Donations can be dropped off at the firm’s office on 99 Mill St. Those interested in donating, but unable to make it to the office can also call the firm at 301-7962 to schedule a donation pickup once a week. The drive will continue until Feb. 28.

Both McFarland and Wampler added that while this is their first year hosting the drive, they plan to make it a yearly tradition for the company.

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